Hundreds of Students Protest at Baptist University over Mandarin Language Requirement. Credit - SocREC via Storyful0:39

At least 200 students protested at Hong Kong Baptist University on the afternoon of Friday, January 26, speaking out against the suspension of two students who were involved in a Mandarin language test controversy. The incident began in mid-January after about 70 percent of Baptist students discovered that they had failed a Mandarin proficiency test, a necessary component to graduate. Mandarin is the official language of Mainland China, while Cantonese and English are the official languages of Hong Kong. According to reports from South China Morning Post and Hong Kong Free Press, 30 students protested at the school’s language center and student union president Lau Tsz-kei swore at staff members. Another student, Andrew Chan Lok-hang, was set to attend a medical internship in Guangdong but cut his internship short after receiving online death threats after attending the protest. Both Lau and Chan were temporarily suspended on January 24. Hong Kong Baptist University’s student union organized Friday’s protest in support of Lau and Chan and chanted various slogans against the school administration, including “shame on oppressing students,” Hong Kong Free Press reported. This footage shows the students chanting and congregating on the school grounds and professor Clayton MacKenzie, Baptist University’s Provost, can be seen in another video. Student representatives gave him a petition letter at the conclusion of the protest and MacKenzie said that he would consider their demands to reverse the suspensions of Lau and Chan. Credit: SocREC via Storyful

January 27th 2018

a year ago

/display/newscorpaustralia.com/Web/NewsNetwork/Network News/National/

Students across the US have walked out of their classrooms to remember the kids killed in Florida. Picture: David Maialetti /The Philadelphia Inquirer via APSource:AP

US students have walked out of classrooms across the US to demand tighter gun safety laws, joining a movement spearheaded by student survivors from the Florida high school where a gunman killed 17 people last month.

The #ENOUGH National School Walkout, began at 10am local time (1am AEDT) on Wednesday across the country, and lasted 17 minutes, commemorating the 17 students and staff killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14.

Students across America have walked out over gun violence. Picture: AP/Patrick SemanskySource:AP

Students, at the American School in London, took part in a “walk out” to protest gun violence. Picture: AP/Matt DunhamSource:AP

The walkout is part of a burgeoning, grassroots movement that grew out of the Parkland attack.

Some of the survivors have lobbied state and federal politicians, and even met with US President Donald Trump, to call for new restrictions on gun ownership, a right protected by the Second Amendment of the US Constitution.

“If our elected officials don’t take responsibility for their inaction on both sides of the aisle, then we are going to kick them out of office,” David Hogg, a Stoneman Douglas student, said in an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday.

Students take part in a walkout at General McLane High School in Washington Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania. Picture: APSource:AP

Hundreds of students from the Washington area are rallied at the Capitol.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and other politicians addressed the crowd.

The biggest applause by far was for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Students chanted his name and nearly drowned out his speech.

Thousands of Washington DC students protested in front of the White House. Picture: AFP/Saul LoebSource:AFP

Students from more than 2800 schools and groups participated in the walkout, many with the backing of their school districts, according to the walkout’s organisers, who also co-ordinated the Women’s March protests staged nationwide over the past two years.

Support has also come from the American Civil Liberties Union and Viacom Inc, which said all seven of its networks, including MTV, which suspended programming at 10am in each US time zone during the 17-minute walkout.

But a few school districts around the country have warned against protests during school hours.

Students across the US walked out of their classrooms to push for tougher gun laws and support the Florida survivors. Picture: Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via APSource:AP

Administrators in Sayreville, New Jersey, told students that anyone who walked out of class would face suspension or other punishment, according to myCentralJersey.com.

The New York City Department of Education said it would allow students to participate if they submitted a signed permission slip from their parents. It would consider the walkout an excused absence.

Students protest at a school in Maryland. Picture: AP/Patrick SemanskySource:AP

A student at Kell High School outside Atlanta says the principal there had threatened students with discipline and said they could be in danger since the time of the nationwide protest was widely known and someone could try to harm them outside the school.

Kirsten Martin said students were scared of the potential punishment, so at 10am “we just carried on like it’s a normal day.”

Students from Passaic High School hold photos of some of the 17 victims killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as they participate in a walkout to protest gun violence, Wednesday, March 14, 2018, in Passaic, New Jersey. Picture: APSource:AP

Despite the threat, three students at the Marietta, Georgia, school walked out for the 17 minutes of the protest and then went back inside.

At some schools, students didn’t walk outside, but instead lined the hallways, standing in silence and wearing the school colors of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which was the site of last month’s mass shooting that killed 17 people.

Others gathered in school gyms and auditorium.

Airport High School juniors Tony LaFata, 16, left, and Noah Doederlein, 17, stands for a moment of silence during a walkout at General McLane High School in Washington Township, Erie County, Pennslyvania. Picture: APSource:AP

In Newtown, Pennsylvania, Council Rock School District will designate an area inside schools where students could gather in a “non-political fashion” to remember the shooting victims. Officials will block all entrance and exit points for the duration of the protest to prevent students from walking out.

More than 40 US colleges and universities, including Yale, Brown and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have said their admissions offices would not penalise any applicants who may be disciplined for protesting.